MOL Comfort investigation underway

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Japanese liner carrier MOL said it has started an investigation into why its containership MOL Comfort split in half during heavy weather last week in the Indian Ocean.
The company said it's working with the shipbuilder, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and Japanese classification society Nippon Kaiji Kyokai to arrange inspection of the six sister vessels as quickly as possible. Crews are also carrying out inspections during navigation, and MOL said it's taking operational precautions to reduce the stress on hulls as an interim contingency plan.
Nobody was injured during the incident, but the crew had to abandon ship and the fore and aft portion of the ship continue to drift in the Indian Ocean. MOL said while some containers were lost, the majority are confirmed to be on board the fore and aft sections.
On Monday evening at around 6 p.m., local time, the company said the fore and aft parts for the ship were drifting near 15’25”N 67’53”E and 13’48”N 64’50”E, respectively, in an east-northeast direction and that weather at the site is still adverse.
It said a salvage company is preparing to rescue the cargo and hulls. One patrol boat and three tugboats have arrived at the site Monday. It said another boat was expected to arrive Wednesday and that the five boats would then prepare for the rescue of the ship.
The ship participates in one of the Asia-Europe loops of the G6 carriers.
Hapag-Lloyd said today that to cover the original eastbound position of the MOL Comfort, another ship, the NYK Orion, will phase into the G6's Europe Asia Loop 1. - Chris Dupin